Gary Buckenara analyses the West Coast list at the end of the 2021 season

The West Coast Eagles have been one of the league’s great underachievers and time is running out for this talented group to deliver what they should.

West Coast’s list has underachieved the past two years.

Questions must be asked as to why.

Has Covid-19 had a big effect on their ability to adapt to the changing circumstances the 2020 and 2021 seasons presented? All clubs have had these issues to deal with.

The Eagles’ list is full of talent and I expected them to be one of the teams to beat in 2021 but their season has been a major let-down again to say the least.

Adam Simpson has struggled to get the best out of his group since their 2018 premiership. Picture: Getty Images

Injuries have hurt them. But this is the bad luck you need to be able to cover with your depth players – and their list has a lot of depth – so this can’t be used as a justification for two years of disappointing results.

The clock is ticking and they are running out of time to achieve what they should have been able to as a group.

The Eagles will need some of their developing players to develop into at least B-graders and it’s hard to predict whether they can as I have not seen enough of them play WAFL to make those judgments.

The club’s recruiters have had later picks in the draft in recent years, meaning the chances of those players developing into top-ranked stars is slimmer than with earlier picks.

The Eagles list is now at a crossroad but the question is will they continue on a journey to the destination they want or have they taken the wrong direction and become lost?

Next season will be a very important one for this list as time is running out.

Even though they did win a flag in 2018, they have had the most talented list and should have won more and to miss the finals in 2021 is a huge underachievement for this group of players.

West Coast star Nic Naitanui is one of the Eagles’ A-graders. Picture: Getty Images

LIST NEEDS

The Eagles have an ageing list but it is still very talented, boasting a strong defence, elite midfield and very dangerous forwards. The issue that stands out is the lack of future AB players. Unless some of the developing players can progress into A or B-graders in two-three years – with the age of the top-end talent – there could be big challenges for the list management and recruiting team at West Coast. The last two years have been very poor and unless they can recapture the hunger again and develop younger players from within, they face some big challenges as a club.

TRADE TARGETS

I’m sure the Eagles will target any ex-West Australian free agents. But this is not a draft to have a lot of picks in. The talent over the past two years has been harder to access due to Covid and not being able to attend games to view players interstate. While everyone gets the vision to watch, it is not the ideal way to access younger players because watching them play live gives you a far better look at other factors like footy smarts and reading the play that you can‘t really see from vision.

UNTOUCHABLES

Oscar Allen, Jarrod Brander, Tom Barras, Tom Cole, Jamie Cripps, Jack Darling, Liam Duggan, Andrew Gaff, Shannon Hurn, Tim Kelly, Josh Kennedy, Jeremy McGovern, Nic Naitanui, Jack Redden, Josh Rotham, Liam Ryan, Dom Sheed, Brad Sheppard, Luke Shuey and Elliot Yeo as well as their developing players.

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TRADE BAIT

I doubt the Eagles will be very active in trying to trade out any of their A or B-ranked players to get early picks in this draft. Some of the players in the C-ranked category are the ones likely to make way for list changes. But I would be making minimal list changes this year.

West Coast defender Jeremy McGovern is one of the Eagles’ A-graders. Picture: Getty Images

WHAT THE RATINGS MEAN

List management is one of the most important jobs at an AFL club.

Poor decisions can be catastrophic — and Collingwood proved that last year.

Far too many clubs can often hold an overly-optimistic view when ranking their own lists and this can lead to years of mediocrity and has Carlton done this recently?

When clubs are rating their lists, they should rank players as: A+, A, B+, B, C+, C and Development.

In this list analysis, I have just done A, B, C and two tiers of development (“future AB players” and “need more time”) because with the younger players it is important to see who is coming through and those that need more time.

The important area for clubs to look at is how many A and B ranked players they have as well as future consistent AB players.

These rankings are my opinions, but they should give supporters a reasonable snapshot as to where their playing list sits now — and how they might look in a few years’ time.

Players 22 and over

A-grade: Elite players on any AFL list

B-grade: Top 10-18 player on most lists

C-grade: An 19-30 player on a list

Developing: Aged 21 or under

Future AB players: These are players that will hopefully develop into an A or B ranked player once they turn 22. They might be playing to this level now, but it takes sustained years.

Need more time: These players would be a player recently drafted that is still developing and therefore will need more time to see if he is likely to develop into an A or B grade player.

High-flying West Coast forward Liam Ryan. Picture: Getty Images

RATING THE LIST

A-grade: Liam Ryan, Andrew Gaff, Elliot Yeo, Nic Naitanui, Tim Kelly, Luke Shuey, Josh Kennedy, Jeremy McGovern.

B-grade: Jake Waterman, Dom Sheed, Brad Sheppard, Jack Redden, Oscar Allen, Liam Duggan, Jamie Cripps, Shannon Hurn, Jack Darling, Tom Barrass.

C-grade: Zac Langdon, Jarrod Brander, Jack Petruccelle, Alex Witherden, Tom Cole, Jackson Nelson, Jamaine Jones, Josh Rotham, Willie Rioli.

DEVELOPMENT

Future AB players: Isiah Winder.

Need more time: Luke Edwards, Xavier O’Neill, Zane Trew, Luke Foley, Bailey Williams, Jarrod Cameron, Callum Jamieson, Harry Edwards, Connor West.

Retired/delisted: Brayden Ainsworth (delisted), Brendon Ah Chee (delisted),Will Collins (delisted), Mark Hutchings (delisted)Ben Johnson (delisted), Nathan Vardy (retired) Daniel Venables (retired).

LIST BREAKDOWN

A-grade: 8

B-grade: 10

C-grade: 9

Development

Future AB players: 1

Need more time: 9

West Coast spearhead Josh Kennedy. Picture: Getty Images

CRYSTAL BALL

I was definitely wrong last year when I predicted the Eagles would be the team to beat in 2021.

The list is ageing and this will present some challenges for the club to address in a year or two. But right now the West Coast list is very capable of being a top-four team with the talent and depth it has at its disposal. This is why the last two years have been so disappointing for Eagles’ supporters and the club – it has been a couple of wasted years.

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Unless the group can find the hunger again, they will be the biggest underachievers in the current era. The talent is there to be a contender in 2022 but unless the desire and hunger returns, they will not achieve the results they should.

In such a competitive competition, unless you make the sacrifices, dedicate yourself and have a burning desire to compete week in, week out, you will not achieve anything regardless of the talent on the list.

Originally published as Gary Buckenara analyses the West Coast list at the end of the 2021 season